


Move past it

by MaaaaT



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-19 01:58:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17592542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaaaaT/pseuds/MaaaaT
Summary: Garnet has a hard time forgiving Pearl after she tricked her to fuse together.





	Move past it

 

 

«  Maybe one day, Steven, you will understand that everything isn't black and white, everything isn't easy to explain, everything isn't... » She pauses, holding her breath a little, looking out the window into the ocean. « Right » She lets the word go into the empty space and there is silence there, a suspension of time almost. She blinks and it is gone.

« So, where is your lunch box ? You need proper food to keep your body healthy. I know just the ingredient for a nice salad i am sure you will love... » And off she goes, brushing the previous discussion aside as if nothing happened. Pearl, Steven learned over the years, is an expert at avoidance. He fallows her down the stairs and into the kitchen aera, jumps on a stool and tries again.

« Pearl ? » He tries to get her attention but she must sense his intent and chooses not to answer. He tries again. « I don't understand, you made a mistake, you appologied. Why Garnet still won't forgive you ? »

The slim gem swirls around and deposes the square plastic contenant on the bar in front of the boy « Here you go. Have a nice day Steven ! » She smiles her too-big-to-be-real-smile and races to her door at the temple, effectively stoping any poursuit from her charge. Steven groans, grabs her lunch and walks outside to find Connie.

 

*****/*****

 

« I don't know Steven. I spend a lot of time with Pearl when we train and she always seems... strange when Garnet is around. Like she is overly polite. It's hard to say. »

Connie is pilling sand, trying to draw something on the smooth surface on the beach. It looks kind of like a mermaid.

« You mean, more than usual ? » Steven is sceptic, because, well, this is Pearl they are talking about, she is always proper like she fallows an etiquette from her days at court when she was Pink Diamond's servant.

Connie merrely shrugs, focused on her art, while Steven tries to puzzle out the weird behaviour of his mother figures.

« Yoooooo Connie ! Cool your boat ! You want a real one so we can take on some waaaaaves ? » The purple gem pops out of nowhere, wriggling her eyebrows. Connie laughs. « It's not a boat ! But yeah, i guess it would be nice to get into the water, it's hot today. »

« Duh ! There is a bunch of tourist in the water already, wanna make them scream ? »

« Amethyst, you know Garnet doesn't want you to scare people with you shark shapeshifting ! Plus, Mayor Dowy really want the tourists to stay and spend money in the town, otherwise there is no economy and the stores will have to close ! I don't want the Big Donut to close ! So no shark form, okay? »

Steven pouts his infamous pleading eyes seering into the youngest gem. Amethyst tilts her head. « Yo Steven, your face is all weird »

The boy huffes and tries an other strategy. « How about we go to Funland ? We could get taller this time and get to ride on the train ! »

Connie smirks at them both and starts walking. It always feels nice when she has the upper hand on her supernatural friends. « Let's go »

 

*****/*****

 

« Oh ! We could totally make a game like that at your home Steven ! But like, created for superstrength. And then we'd mark the score for everyone and see how we progress with further training ! »

They stand before the game of strength, watching a small kid waving the hammer on trembling legs.

« Yeah ! We could totally do that ! » Steven moves his hands with his enthousiasme. Maybe he shouldn't have eat that much candy. « We'll compare eveyone ! Amethyste, Pearl, Garnet, even the fusions ! Oh man, there is so much we can do with that ! What to you say Amethyst, wanna go build the game with us ? »

Amethysts eyes the two humans thoughtfull. « Mmmm. You know i'm always down to show off my marvellous skills » She poofs into purple puma and flexes her muscles for effect before poofing back to her form. « But i don't think Garnet will be up to that. Like. Nope. It's cold war over there, remember ? »

Steven cringes his teeth and slumps his shoulders, defeated.

« Why can't they just make up already ? It's been weeks ! »

Amethyst sighs and looks away.

« Come on ! » The boy whines, throwing his hands in the air. « She made a mistake, she appologied, Garnet forgave me for many of my mistakes, or yours, many times over but she won't forgive Pearl ? That doesn't make sense ! »

Amethyst rolls her eyes at his theatrics. He his the son of Greg the rock star after all. She scratches her head only to find some random candy she must have left there for later. She smiles at her smartness and licks her fingers cleans. « They have history, is all. You and i we're new, we're young, they teach us and move on. Pearl is as old as Ruby and Sapphire, i guess Garnet isn't as cool with an old stone is all. »

« I don't think that's what this is about » Connie thinking voice interrups Amethyst's dismissiveness, frowning. « There is something there. Something else. I mean, i wasn't there when you guys went to destroy the tower but... I saw Pearl after. She had that same look in her eyes, when she talks about your mom. It's more than regret. It's... »

« Steven ! What are you doing over there ! I keep an eye on you young man ! You still haven't completed your shift as the psychic machine down at my store. Now, i open tomorrow ... » Steven nods at the new comer and forgets about his cristal moms for a while.

 

*****/*****

 

« I know why you did it. »

Pearls jumps on the couch and swallows. She thought she had the house for herself. She was wrong.

« I... » She doesn't dare looking at the wardpad where she knows Garnet stand, probably her hands on her hips, looking down on her.

« I am mad because _you_ don't really know why you did it. You can't even see it. And it just... » The voice, always so sure and so direct, wavers, enough for Pearl to turn around and stare at the unofficial leader. Garnet, tall, strong Garnet, lower her head. She says something Pearl doesn't quite catch. She stands without really realising, already stepping toward her friend when Garnet suddenly snaps her head back, strong again, a hand forward to stop Pearl in her tracks. They stay there, looking at each other, before Garnet, her arm still blocking Pearl from coming closer, turns her head.

« I have waited this far. » She nods seemingly to herself, takes a deep breath and fixes her glasses on her face, confidence stride restaured. « Alright ! » Garnet says with her usual leadering voice « Let's move past this. You can stop mopping. We have a mission, Peridot is still out there and we need to focuse. We are a team. When Amethyst comes back we need to make a better plan of action. »

Pearl joins her hands on her chest and smiles, too happy at being finally forgiven to see the way Garnet flexes her fist behind her back.

 

*****/*****

 

« Why don't you form Sardonyx anymore ? »

Garnet finishes checking over the bubbles in the chamber. It isn't like Amethyst to ask that type of personal question. Steven is the noosy Cristal Gem wherase Amethyst is the more unconcerned of all the drama surrounding them. Sometimes Garnet wishes she could be as detatched as her fellow gem, but well... Here they are.

« There is no need to it. »

Amthyst sighs and leaves her coosy spot leaning at the door. She steps to Garnet with an unatural serious expression. « Look, i'm not stupid. You say you're fine and maybe Pearl and Steven buy it but i dont. You avoid being Sardonyx at every turn, you even made us be _Opal_ on the last mission. Opal ! What is _wrong_ with you ?! »

« We needed Opal's finess in archery and it went perfectly »

Garnet's learder voice doesn't make Amethyst go away.

« I know you haven't forgiven Pearl. Look, she can be a pain in the ass, don't i know it, but i could have made the same mistake, honestly. I mean, look at you » She flops her hands up and down, totally ungracefully. « You're strong ! You're confident ! You're made out of love ! Who wouldn't want to fuse with you ? So , yeah, she made it happen, she tricked you but man ! You could take it as the compliment it is already ! » Amethyst is frowning now, arms crossed petulently on her chest. She can be such a child in her manerism, something Garnet really cherrishes about her, even now.

Garnet hesitates. Amethyst is as much a member as the Cristal Gems as any of them. She has a right to know. Resigned, she sits on the ground and gestures to her friend to join her.

« Sardonyx is unstable right now, because i am unstable regarding Pearl. It has nothing to do with her, ultimately, it is all regarding my own feelings. I have lost my balance in our relationship and i need to find it again. In the mean time there is no need for it to cripple the team. It will be fine, we have a lot more assests we can use. Like Opal. » She smirks a little, hoping to calm some of Amethyst's obvious worry.

The purple gem eyes her for a moment, and nods. « Do you want to talk about it ? » A pause. She rubs her neck. Clears her throat. « Your feelings, i mean »

Garnet stops herself from laughing at her disconfort, prefering a sincere smile. « No thank you. I will be fine ».

 

*****/*****

 

It is not fine. They are traped and Steven is in danger. There is no choice. They fuse. Sardonyx is all too happy to save the day and escort Steven on solid ground. She sits her tall frame on the ground next to the boy and looks at the sky. Steven has seen here a handfull of times, always quickly, but it is the first time she doesn't talk, doesn't move. It is strange and a little out of character for the hyperenergetic fusion.

« Huh... Sardonyx ? » He calls from the ground, massaging his sore muscles. « Are you okay ? »

The giant woman blinks and looks down to him. Slowly, she smiles, but her eyes don't seem as happy. « Yes, i am fine, young boy. I was just... » She pauses then moves her massive body to lay down on the grass, two hands on her belly, the others behind her head. « It's nice to be together again. »

Steven doesn't know what to say to that. « Oh »

It seems the talkative fusion doesn't need more probing than that.

« They never stay together too long. They try to avoid it... and i let them. But today i want to stay a little. »

« You mean, you have a say over it ? You can decide if you unfuse or not ? »

« Of course ! » Her high voice seems far away, like she isn't really focused on the conversation. « It feels nice, doesn't it ? To stop fighting it ? It would be so much easier if you just talked instead of this constant avoidance. » Steven watches silently as a lone tear appears on the fusion's face. « Isn't it good to be me ? » Her voice cracks at the end and Steven suddenly feels like he is intruding. But the intimate murmurs washes away into nothingness when the massive woman starts to glow, turns into light and dissapears, replaced by two separate gems sitting feet appart on the grass.

For a moment, no one says anything and Steven waits, he really does, but patience isn't his strong suit.

« Guys ? »

Pearls jumps and Garnet looks at his through her sun glasses.

« Let's go home »

 

*****/*****

 

« It has to stop. We need to talk to her. »

Ruby paces in their chamber, jaw tight. She doesn't respond. Sapphire sighs.

« Ruby. It's clear you can't pass the incident, your temper is affecting the team now. It's time we tell her. »

« No ! » The red gem stops, eyes wild. « You told me over and over, for centuries, to never disturbe the timeline ! That there is a time for everything, that if we act on the future, the future might not happen, that we - »

« And look at us now ! » Sapphire shouts, ice spiking all around her small form. « We're already altering the future ! We're a mess of unvoiced words that need to come out, otherwise Alexandrite will not form ! Don't you see ?! We have to act so the future can remain. Sometimes we have our rôle to play ! We are not meant to observe on this. » The seer's voice is cutting, the aristocrat knows her craft, after all. Ruby can only protest so far.

« Arg ! I hate it when you force my hand ! » She grips her hair hard.

« Fine. I will go talk to her myself then. » The blue gem walks out the door without a glimps behind, leaving Ruby to her fury and her fear.

« Pearl ? » Sapphire's voice echoes in the waterfall's chamber. Seconds pass while Sapphire merrely sits at the edge of the water, waiting for Pearl to finish her training. She knows she heard her, but she needs time to prepare herself to join Sapphire. It's been month now that either Pearl or Garnet walk on eggshell around each other, all the while pretending like everything is fine.

Sardonyx proved how wrong that is.

« Sapphire ? » She can hear the clip tone in Pearl's voice, too high. It's become her usual tone around Garnet nowdays.

Sapphire doesn't move, she doesn't turn. She is here to voice what Garnet doesn't find the courage to do, then she'll go.

« You see, being a seer gives me a strange sense of reality. There are multiples possibilities, differents paths starting or fading when one makes a choice. I see those paths, those possible choices, and i can influence some of them to form, to be real. For most, i choose to remain neutral, to let fate runs its course. »

Pearls has join her down the water now, she can feel her quiet curiosity. She is probably wondering why Sapphire tells her something she already knows. They already had this conversation about her particular futur visions.

« Even when it comes to me personaly. I don't want to use my power to manipulate people, to rob them of their free will, even at the expense of my own happyness. But sometimes... sometimes life gives me a lesson, and i keep learning about myself, even after thousands of years. I realise now that i must be an actor of my own fate, i must tell the truth as i see it, lay all the cards on the table as truthfull as i see them, and let you decide, with your own free will, what course you'll chose next. This is the middle ground that i find today- »

« WAIT ! » The door of the chamber opens to a running Ruby waving at them. « Wait Sapphire ! » She slides to an halt before the blue gem who starts to stand, tone curt.

« I told you i'm done- »

« I know ! But it doesn't feel right to do it like that, i don't want to do it like that. Could we- » Ruby takes Sapphire's hands, eyes wide, still with the hint of fear in her orbes. Sapphire smiles kindly.

« Together ? »

« Y--Yeah » Ruby's voice wavers and Sapphire kisses her tenderly.

« Together »

 

*****/*****

 

Pearl swallows her disconfort, watching the two gems so obviously in love. It always makes her flinch, somehow, as much as it facinates her. She it just... unconfortable with this. She makes to leave them alone to their discussion, Ruby is apparently agitated, she is almost at the door when she hears a voice that makes her stop breathing.

« Wait »

She never realised before, how Garnet's first word always leaves her breathless. She pauses and visits their past encounters in her memory, but she cant's seem to find a time when Garnet's presence at her side hasn't stired something deep inside of her. She doesn't have the opportunity to decipher this strange reaction however, for the now renewed fusion joins her at the door.

Pearl watches as Garnet gently takes her hand and tugs. « Please, there is something i need to tell you. » Pearl can't do much else than fallow the lead, steps down the stairs and close to the waterfall. Garnet smiles at her, the real first smile in months, her thumb softly rubbing her hand before letting go. Pearl finds herself immensely relieved to have Garnet smile at her like that. This special smile she missed so much she realise now that she yearned for it every day in her heart. There is a hurt lifting when Garnet looks at her that way, like she gives her her absolute attention.

« I've been sad when Rose created Steven » Garnet starts randomly and Pearl can only wonder what this has to do with anything. « But mostly i was relieved. Because i knew » She urges, preventing Pearl from interrupting « the place Steven would have in our heart. I also knew all our paths and how her absence would let us thrive for ourselves, despite the grief of losing a friend. »

Pearl's legs shake a little while Garnet passes her hand distractingly under the waterfall, watching the drops flying everywhere. Her grave voice is soothing and grounding when she continues.

« Rose's leadership was something of the past, a necessity of war, and we loved her for the freedom we gained thanks to her. But she wasn't perfect. I think you know that, even though for centuries you chose not to see. She was a rose quartz, easy to love, after all. But i am a medium, i see through illusions, i always knew who she was. » Pearl stops breathing. She needs to sit. Garnet stands tall and strong above her and everything is wrong. She doesn't know, does she ? She doesn't...

Garnet doesn't seems to notice Pearl's rising panic.

« Her ability to love was her quality but our curse too. Humans would say she was a heartbreaker, collecting loves from others, not giving much in return. Of course i most of all know we can love as many beings as we want, love is everything. I am made of love, more so than Rose Quartz could ever be, in a sense, that is why i know she couldn't love everyone fully. She believed she loved... but in reality her affections were all superficial. » She stops a moment before joining Pearl on the ground, the sound of the water between them.

« I was truly happy for her when she fell in love with Greg, after all those humans and gems she played with without knowing. » Pearl flinches beside her but remains silent. « She realised then how wrong she had been, how pretentious and selfish she was in her caring of others. In her caring of you. But still, she was a proud gem and even in the end she never had the courage to set you free. » Garnet shakes her head, jaw clench. « I resented her a long time for that. »

Pearl swallows and stands wobbly on her feet. She steps back. « Garnet- » Her throat is dry, but she pushes through. She has to stop her, she doesn't want to hear whatever it is she is here so say. No. « Y-- You need to g- »

« It doesn't matter now » Garnet's looming voice cuts her off. She stands on her strong legs facing Pearl. She takes her glasses off, her three eyes boring into her.

« Sapphire and Ruby are love. I am love. And we have watched you suffer over Rose in silence for centuries. No more. » Garnet, the fierce leader of the Cristal Gems steps into Pearl's personnal space and places a hand on her cheek.

« I know why you tricked me to fuse together at the tower. I knew all along. But you are so stubborn in your devotion of the past, you refuse to see your future. » Her thumb brushes softly along the ridge of Pearl's nose. « I am here, waiting for you. I have always been here. For so long. I can be patient, i have waited this long, but it seems now that we're running out of time ,and i need to make a decision. For me. For us. »

Pearl can only stare, her brilliant mind refusing to form any thought at the moment. Garnet doesn't seem to mind. She releases her cheek and takes Pearl's small hand in hers, bringing her palm to her lips. « I see you » she murmures reverently in her hand, a ghost of breath on Pearl's skin. « I've always seen you »

Finally she releases her hand and steps back, cutting all contact. The emptiness is jaring.

« Maybe it is time you see me too. »

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
